Northern Nigeria

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Monograph

Identifikator:: 863607721

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-45464

Document type:: Monograph

Author:: Lugard, Frederick John Dealtry http://d-nb.info/gnd/117667412

Title:: Northern Nigeria

Place of publication:: London

Publisher:: His Maj. Stat. Off.

Year of publication:: 1907

Scope:: 1 Online-Ressource (65 Seiten)

Collection:: Economics Books

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TAXATION OF NATIVES IN NORTHERN NIGERIA. 11 so far as it was modified by the Resident, and consolidated and fixed alternatively at a money value, payable only once in the year, it inaugurated the beginnings of principles recognised in more advanced communities, and enabled the collection to be made in a manner in which the proceeds could best be utilised by the Administration, and accounted for in accordance with financial instructions, while it ensured a more just incidence and greater uniformity. The general tax thus embraced all taxes upon the village community. If the village was rich in herds and flocks it paid proportionately to its wealth. If it was an industrial com munity, which gained its livelihood by smelting and working iron, or by dyeing cloth, it similarly paid in proportion to its tax-paying capacity. The unit, so far as Government is con cerned, is the village, and the proportion to be paid by the indi vidual is left to the village headman, as in India.* Jangali. 9. The taxation of nomad herdsmen, who have no settled village, had, however, to be undertaken separately, and for this reason a second tax, applicable only to them, viz., the jangali or cattle tax, was recognised. It was fixed at 5 per cent, instead of the former 10 per cent., and for the sake of facility in assess ment, large herds (especially those belonging to pagan commu nities), though not strictly nomad, were included in this cate gory. The taxation imposed under the “Native Revenue” Proclamation, No. 2, of 1906, is, therefore, shown under two heads, viz., the “general tax” and the “jangali,” though they are identical in principle, and in the course of time will probably be merged into one. Kurdin Sarauta. 10. I have included in my review of the taxation under this Proclamation the tax called “ kurdin sarauta,” though it has, properly speaking, no place in this connection, and is not a tax which falls upon the population at large. The traditional custom in Northern Nigeria is that any person appointed to an office pays a fee on appointment. This led to great abuses, to the sale of offices, to bribery, and to continual deposition of holders. No appointment can now be made without the con currence of the Resident, and these abuses have, I think, wholly and absolutely ceased. It has been urged that the fee on appointment should be retained, and that half should be taken by Government, so that it should be the more obligatory upon a chief to report any appointments he desires to make, and That * I believe that under the Act of 1856 the Magistrate in India appoints a “ panchayet ” (native council of five) to apportion the tax imposed upon a village to the individuals. This is done (a) by actual valuation of property, which is rare, or (b) by their general knowledge of the circum stances of each individual, a system which works much better. The latter is the system of Northern Nigeria.

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